Judge Reconsiders WikiLeaks

Judge White of WikiLeaks fame has thoughtfully reconsidered his earlier opinion, and decided that perhaps he got it wrong.  It takes a courageous soul to admit one's mistakes so publicly.  Wired has a copy of Friday's order and quotes from Friday's hearing:

From the outset, the judge seemed to agree with the media and rights groups. About 30 minutes into the hearing, White said the case concerned "very important issues" and "the court does not want to be a part of any order that is not constitutional."

The NYT has the story, too: 

In reversing himself at a hearing here on Friday, Judge White acknowledged that the bank’s request posed serious First Amendment questions and might constitute unjustified prior restraint. He also appeared visibly frustrated that technology might have outrun the law and that, as a result, the court might not be able to rein in information once it had been disclosed online.

“We live in an age,” Judge White said, “when people can do some good things and people can do some terrible things without accountability necessarily in a court of law.”

I imagine this isn't the end of the saga.  Previous LLB posts here.  [JJ]